The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1887-07-02
The Mountain Lion Of Montana.

A ranebman on Sandy creek
was tagging some antelope once,
and when the foolish creatures
came within range, victims of their
inordinate curiosity, bang! went
the gun, and down went a fine
buck antelope. But the nimble
thing was up again almost instant
", aud Notwithstanding a fatal
wound in the shoulder made off at
railroad speed, and in its efforts to
escape tumbled heels over head
down into a timbered coulee. The
hunter came up on a dead run and
totally out of breath, but when no
arrived on the spot he found his
quarry claimed by other parties.
Two mammoth mountain lions
were quarreling over the painting
carcass, aud literally tore the an.
telope limb from limb in their dis.
pute over the proprietorshlp of
the booty. The hunter, after view.
ing the scene fraction of a Sec
ond, decided that he had no use
for the meat. and hastily retraced
his steps to safer quarters.
A gentleman who has a ranch
about forty miles south of this
point, and who has had plenty OF
occasion to study the ways and
habits of these midnight custom.
ers, says that the lions in his neigh
borhood will drag down a heifer
or young steer aud take off a quar-
ter almost as neatly as a butcher
would with his knife. They sci.
dom consume it on the spot, but
always drag 1t away and devour n
When they are hungry they will
not be contented with the stock
on hand, but will again attack an
other beef, never returning to Q
carcass they have once left Theil
jumping powers must be extraor
dinary. To my own knowledge
know Of one male adult making {
clear leap of eighteen feet, and
have heard II told whore the AMI
mails have covered q far greater
space than that have named. L
they make such tremendous iumpl
in the sight and presence of indi
viduals, which after all is rarit,
considering the few humans VIII,
have ever seen mountain lions a
home, what must they accomplish
when nnseen and in daily pursui
Of food In their forest fastnesses
Mr.. John Luhman tells of on,
he encountered over IN the BIZ
Horn mountains. The gentleman
was hotly pursuing a wounded
Rocky Mountain sheep among til,
crags and peaks of the roughes
country OH the North American
continent, and just as he camo il
sight of the crippled quarry on
spraug largo mountain lion iron
q fifteen foot ledge, threw th,
sheep across his shoulders, an,
nimbly leaping another chasm o
fifteen feet was out of sight in ;
jiny.
A correspondent from Washing
ton Territory tells OF two cougars
attacking and killing COW weigh
Ing over 700 pounds on Peterson'i
farm near Noosack crossing, anC
of dragging the carcass u distance
of 800 yards, over fallen trees
logs and brush, task that woult
ordinarily have required the ser
vices of o good yoke of cattle
One of the animals was subse
quently killed, and measured over
eleven feet from the tip of his nose
to the end of his tail.
Some hunters have told me that
mountain lions IN this section will
not hesitate to attack brown OF
black bears, II pressed by hunger
An Indian of the Crow tribe has
the hide of one lion which he said
he found III the Big EorD noun
tains nearly dead, and in fact dy'
ing, from wounds received in a
long, fierce and bloody encounter
with a grizzly bear. l never sup
posed these agile cats had sand
and pluck enough to tackle a griz'
ely; but the redskin says further,
that while the lion was almost
gone when he found him, his body
beng crushed and lacerated from
the numerous and vicious embra
ces of his antagonist, the bear It
self was stone dead, with a large
hole clewed in his throat, and
with great tufts Of hair strewr
around Oh the ground, tender ano
affectlonate clawings of the fellow
he Rugged SO tightly and yet sc
injudiclousIy.
---@-e-as-
Somewhat Mixed.
The editor of n naper at Storm